Key happy to head home, cites lack of comfort with exit from ISU

Tyreke Key is proud to be from Celina, Tenn. They're proud of him too and justifiably so. He's likely one of the few active college players to have a sign outside his hometown celebrating that he's a native son.

Don't take that to mean, though, that Key grew up with a Tennessee orange-and-white-decorated bedroom. Key, who announced Saturday that he is transferring from Indiana State to Tennessee, is happy to finish his career at home. But home means being closer to his family and friends in Celina first and foremost.

"Being back home is something special. The emotion of having family and friends there, being closer with a two-hour drive. Knowing that? It's always going to be special. And being a Tennessee native? People know me there a little bit. Finishing my career at the University of Tennessee ... it just felt right," Key told the Tribune-Star on Sunday.

Key, whose decision to transfer from Indiana State was made public in February, chose Tennessee over Texas Tech, Oklahoma (where former Loyola coach Porter Moser is in charge) and Ole Miss.

"I didn't have a favorite growing up. I was in SEC country with Tennessee and Kentucky [Celina is in Clay County, a border county with Kentucky] and I watched them a lot, but neither was necessarily my favorite," Key said.

Key was not recruited heavily out of Clay County High School. ISU got a steal when they nabbed Key, with competition only from nearby Tennessee Tech and late interest by Evansville and Western Kentucky. Key scored 1,650 points in four seasons. His best scoring season was 2018, when he averaged 18.4 points with 538 points as sophomore, though Key averaged 17.2 points for ISU's 15-10 team that featured more scoring options.

Key also averaged 4.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.9 steals and was an 80.3% free throw shooter in his four seasons in an ISU uniform.

Key still has a year of eligibility left both due to the COVID-19 amnesty season provided to players who were active at the time as well as the injury waiver he gained from sitting out the 2021-22 season after shoulder surgery to fix a recurring subluxed shoulder injury in November 2021.

Unlike his high school recruiting experience, Key's decision to enter the transfer portal put him directly into the maelstrom of the Category 5 hurricane that has changed the way all college sports operate — the transfer portal. Key is reserved and was never one for self-promotion or attention-seeking. So the portal experience was an eye-opener for him.

"It was pretty hectic. It's crazy how it works. As soon as you hit it? Instant phone calls. I don't know what the official count was, but I had a lot of schools reach out. It was really hectic," said Key, who also said he had his AAU coach Kevin Feltner and Clay County High School basketball coach Rob Edwards advising him.

"We drew out the list and figured which would be good fits and which wouldn't. We started narrowing down the list. It was a long, grueling process that was a stressful experience. It was eye-opening," Key said.

"You have to balance [being in the portal] with school and everyday life. I had to work out everyday. The tough part is balancing out the real ones and the ones you have to look out for. You have to find the one who fits your playing style," Key continued. "You know me, I'm not into social media and the prima donna stuff. I'm not a big attention getter, so it was all new to me, since I wasn't recruited heavily out of high school. It does show I proved my case and people wanted me."

Key was asked about his potential for Name, Image and Likeness opportunity at Tennessee — a Power Five school that has far larger resources to tap into in that department than ISU does. The question prompted Key to also speak about his exit from the Sycamores.

"There's no specific [NIL] number. I'm sure being back home something will pop up. That was one of the things that was said about me in terms of tampering that I was leaving some for money. That was all just kind of fluff that people were saying. Nobody was in my ear. That was a scapegoat I was used as," Key said.

That prompted a follow-up question about ISU coach Josh Schertz's allegations in a Feb. 26 story that there were unnamed "people in his ear" about leaving ISU. In that same February story, Key denied the allegations, but he expanded on his feelings on Sunday.

"I'll be honest, and this is the God's honest truth, I'd probably still be at Indiana State, but I would say I was slightly rushed into making a decision to come back," said Key, who claimed that a decision was asked for partly so ISU would know what to do with Senior Night. "It was kind of a rushed decision I wasn't comfortable at that time with."

It should be noted that Key was quoted in the Feb. 26 story saying he began to re-evaluate his future after the November shoulder surgery, though his quote at the time did not say that time period was when he specifically made the decision to leave ISU.

Contacted by the Tribune-Star on Sunday, Schertz responded to Key's claims.

"In terms of Tyreke being rushed, I can't speak to how he felt. He had the surgery in November. We talked about [Key's ISU future] prior to surgery. As he was in our coaches' meetings all year, [Key's future] wasn't something I brought up. I didn't think it was appropriate," Schertz said.

"As we got to February, from an institutional standpoint, they wanted to know if he was returning or not because if he was not, they wanted to honor him on Senior Night. He had done it the year before, but fans weren't allowed [in 2021], and they wanted to make it a big deal," Schertz said.

"If he didn't know [his decision], it was fine, if he decided to make a decision later on, I was great with that. If that was in March or whatever, when he decided to leave, we'd honor him at some point if he wanted to be honored, but if he wanted to be honored for Senior Night, we needed to know. We had this discussion in February," Schertz said.

According to Schertz, Key texted him on Feb. 19 indicating that he intended to leave ISU. Key officially entered the portal in March after ISU was eliminated from the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

"From there [after Key made his decision], we continued to let him travel and be a part of things, I thought that was appropriate. We tried to be right by Tyreke. Prior to surgery, in the surgery, post-surgery, and post him letting us know, if he felt rushed, he never communicated that to me," Schertz said.

"If I didn't communicate that clearly enough, that's on me, but he never communicated to me he felt rushed. Even when we met in the postseason in March, that the door was open to a return up until we filled our roster. I didn't want to bother him and put him in an awkward situation of meeting me on this religiously," Schertz continued.

"I'm not saying what he felt was wrong, whatever he feels is right, because he's the one feeling it, but with the amount of time that lapsed between the injury, the surgery and when the decision was made in February, that's a significant amount of time to get your bearings," Schertz said.

Ultimately, Key felt the decision to leave was necessary for his future.

"Obviously from a culture standpoint, I didn't want to bank on my last year being in this situation and kind of seeing how things were ran. I didn't want to my last year to be that. It was a tough decision leaving this place, but it was kind of necessary for what I envision my future and how I go about things. I thought it was best to move on," Key said.

Key hopes that ISU fans are left with a positive impression of him. He leaves ISU as its sixth-leading scorer and the Sycamores had a pair of winning seasons in his final two years as an active player after five straight losing campaigns. Both Schertz and former ISU coach Greg Lansing lauded his relentless work ethic throughout his career.

"I hope I impacted people in a positive way. I hope no one looks at this as me back-stabbing anybody. I'd probably still be here, honestly, if the situation was a little better. I hope everything was positive and I hope everyone enjoyed my style of play. I enjoyed playing here," Key said.

"I worked hard every day and that was my mentality. I was under-recruited out of high school. I had to prove my case. Hopefully, people will remember that and my character. I cared about Indiana State and cared about working hard. That's how I want to remembered," Key added.